Tunnel Plan Won’t Fix Bengaluru’s Gridlock, Tejasvi Surya Tells DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Wednesday stepped up his criticism of the Karnataka government’s tunnel road proposal, accusing Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar of relying on “political endorsement” instead of scientific planning to push the multi-crore project.

His remarks followed Shivakumar’s post on X sharing an expert study that called tunnels “the only solution” to Bengaluru’s traffic crisis. The report, authored by an engineer who is also a Congress spokesperson, argues that multilayer corridors supported by a network of tunnels are essential to easing congestion.

In a detailed counterpost on X, Surya dismissed the study as a partisan attempt to legitimise an “unviable” project. “Bengaluru deserves scientific urban planning, not political engineering,” he wrote, saying the report “wrongly concludes” that tunnels are the city’s sole decongestion strategy — a view he argued shows “little understanding of transportation science”.

‘TUNNELS WILL NOT DECONGEST THE CITY’

Reiterating earlier objections, Surya said his opposition was not rooted in doubts about engineering feasibility but concerns over effectiveness. “These tunnels will not decongest Bengaluru — they will make matters worse,” he said.

Pointing to global transit benchmarks, he noted that mass rapid transport systems can move up to 70,000 passengers per hour per direction, while tunnels would carry only about 1,800 cars in the same time. Investing heavily in such corridors, he said, would benefit only a small group of private-vehicle users and undermine public transport goals.

Surya also flagged environmental and geological concerns, saying the report “ignores” hydrological risks and potential threats to the 3-billion-year-old Lalbagh rock formation. He added that assessments from key agencies — including the National Institute of Rock Mechanics and the Geological Survey of India — were still missing.

COST DISPUTE REVIVES

The BJP MP also questioned the project’s costing. While the study claims tunnel construction would cost ₹440 crore per kilometre, Surya said the Detailed Project Report places the figure above ₹1,000 crore per kilometre. Similar concerns over financial viability had been raised by BJP leaders in October.

SHIVAKUMAR’S RESPONSE

Shivakumar has defended the proposal, saying the expert report bolsters the case for tunnel infrastructure and reiterating that “Bengaluru needs multilayer solutions”. He accused the BJP of delaying key mobility projects during its tenure and said the Congress government intends to pursue long-term, people-centric solutions.

He has argued that Bengaluru’s surface infrastructure has reached saturation and that the city must both “go vertical and go underground” to handle future demand.

METRO VS TUNNEL: THE DEBATE INTENSIFIES

The exchange has once again pushed Bengaluru’s larger mobility strategy into focus, sharpening the divide between the government’s push for tunnel roads and the BJP’s call for greater investment in metro expansion, suburban rail and dedicated bus corridors.